Electronic bill processing with enhanced bill availability notification and/or enhanced bill presentation

ABSTRACT

A method of electronically presenting billing information, includes receiving billing information associated with a plurality of different billers, different portions of which represent bills for different payors. Requests are received from respective payors for current billing information, responsive to which bill presentment information corresponding to the applicable portion of the billing information is transmitted to the requesting payor.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates generally to electronic commerceand more particularly to electronic presentation of an aggregation ofbills from different billers.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] Historically the billing process has been a three party process.More particularly, the typical billing process consists of billers, suchas merchants, utility companies, service providers and bankcardcompanies, preparing hardcopy paper bills either directly or through anindependent bill preparation service provider. The bills normallyconsist of detailed billing information relating to the goods orservices purchased or ordered, including a detailed itemization of thebilled charges. The billing information also includes the total charge,due date for payment and, in many cases, the minimum amount which mustbe paid by the due date.

[0003] The hardcopy billing information relating to each individualbiller is then placed in a separate envelope and mailed through thepostal service to the applicable payor. The envelope may also be stuffedwith other materials such as other product offerings, e.g., specialdiscounts or new goods or services. Hence, each payor has historicallyreceived billing information from each biller as an individual hardcopypiece of correspondence received by mail.

[0004] Most, although not all, billers bill on a periodic basis, such aseach calendar month or every thirty days. However, although billers mayissue bills covering similar periods of time, e.g., thirty day periods,individual billers may have billing cycles and bill issue dates whichvary. For example, some monthly billers may have a billing period whichextends from the fifteenth of one month to the fifteenth of the nextmonth, while other billers may have a monthly billing period whichextends from the last day of one month to the last day of the followingmonth. Further, even if different billers bill charges incurred overidentical periods, the issue dates of the bills can vary widely.Accordingly, payors typically receive bills at various times throughout,for example, any given calendar month.

[0005] To complete the billing process individual payors havehistorically made payments directly to each individual biller byhardcopy paper check drawn against a financial institution and mailedvia the postal service to the biller's remittance center. A returnableportion of the billing information received from the biller is typicallyreturned with the check. The biller must then present the check forpayment through the payor's financial institution before the paymentfunds can be actually received by the biller and applied against thepayors account.

[0006] Systems have been implemented to allow payors to pay billselectronically. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,113 which is assignedto the assignee of the present application, discloses a system forelectronic payment of bills received by individual payors from variousbillers. Recent improvements have been made in electronic bill paymentsystems, such as those disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No.______ (Attorney docket no. 33500-00001) entitled An Electronic BillPayment System with Merchant Identification, filed on Dec. 19, 1997 andU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/010,193, entitled Dual SourceRemittance Processing, filed on Jan. 21, 1998, both of which are alsoassigned to the assignee of the present application and are incorporatedherein by reference. Such systems allow the payor, using a home oroffice computing device, e.g. a personal computer, to access acentralized payment station, e.g. a server, via a network. Based uponthe payor's authorization, the centralized station can access funds inthe payor's checking account at a financial institution to pay variousbillers in accordance with payment instructions received from the payorvia the network. The payments may be made either by electronic fundstransfer or by hardcopy paper check to the individual billers.

[0007] Although advances in electronic bill payment systems havesignificantly automated remittance processing, these systems have noteliminated the need for payors to continue to receive large numbers ofhardcopy paper bills from individual billers. Hence, bill presentmenthas remained a tedious and expensive task both in terms of thepreparation and the distribution of billing information.

[0008] Recently, a centralized bill presentation system has beenproposed. As proposed, billing information is forwarded to a centralizedsystem by multiple billers. The received billing information isaccumulated over some prespecified period of time corresponding to abilling cycle and then forwarded in a single transmission to theapplicable payors. Although the proposed system could result in somereduction in the cost of distributing bills, it has numerousdisadvantages.

[0009] For example, since the proposed system transmits billinginformation to an individual payor only after bills from differentbillers have been accumulated over a predefined period of time, such asa calendar month, bills which have been issued early in the cycle may bereceived too late to avoid charges for late payment. Further, sincebilling information is only made available after the completion of afull billing cycle, even if a particular payor would prefer to reviewand pay bills on an ongoing basis throughout the billing cycle, thepayor must wait until after the end of the cycle to receive a singlebatch of bills. The payor will therefore need to allocate a large blockof time after receipt of the transmitted accumulated billing informationto review and pay the associated bills. Hence, the proposed system isinflexible in dealing with individual payor demands. Although theproposed system may electronically transmit the accumulated billinginformation to the payors, because all information is sent in a singletransmission significant communications network resources will berequired for each transmission if detailed billing information is to beprovided to each payor.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to providea technique for electronically presenting billing information in amanner which facilitates the timely payment of bills by payors.

[0011] It is another object of the present invention to provide atechnique for electronically presenting billing information fromdifferent billers when desired by the payor.

[0012] It is a further object of the present invention to provide atechnique for electronically presenting bills in a form desired by apayor.

[0013] Additional objects, advantages, novel features of the presentinvention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from thisdisclosure, including the following detailed description, as well as bypractice of the invention. While the invention is described below withreference to a preferred embodiment(s), it should be understood that theinvention is not limited thereto. Those of ordinary skill in the arthaving access to the teachings herein will recognize additionalimplementations, modifications, and embodiments, as well as other fieldsof use, which are within the scope of the invention as disclosed andclaimed herein and with respect to which the invention could be ofsignificant utility.

SUMMARY DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0014] In accordance with the invention, an electronic bill presentmentsystem includes a memory, such as an electrical or optical storagedevice, a processor, such as a high speed microprocessor, and acommunications network interface. The system may take the form of one ormore servers interconnected to a private or public bill presentationnetwork, e.g. the Internet.

[0015] The memory stores billing information, associated with variousbillers, representing bills for various payors. Preferably the billinginformation is received from the billers or their representatives, e.g.bill consolidators, via the network interface and is stored on thememory by the processor in association with an identifier of theappropriate payor.

[0016] In a typical operational sequence, the processor accesses thememory to read the stored billing information. Using this information,the processor generates bill presentment information which correspondsto a portion of the billing information which represents bills for afirst payor. The processor also generates bill presentment informationwhich corresponds to other portions of the billing information whichrepresents bills for other payors. The bill presentment information mayrelate to paid bills, unpaid bills or bills having another desiredstatus, or any combination thereof. The bill presentment information,may be a detailed bill which includes all the applicable billinginformation, could be a summary of the applicable billing information,or could be a simple retransmission of all or some of the applicablebilling information. Some or all of the bill presentment information mayalso be stored in the memory.

[0017] Preferably, the bill presentment information includes a summarylisting of all bills of a desired status, such as all paid or unpaidbills. Beneficially, the bill presentment information includes a listingof respective billed amounts owed by the payor to a number of thedifferent billers, which can be presented as one or more pages on adisplay, such as the monitor of a payor's home or office computer. Thebill presentation information could also include a formatted version ofall the applicable billing information, such as a full detailedpresentation of a bill, which can be presented on a display so as toappear substantially similar to the conventional hardcopy bills whichare regularly received by mail today.

[0018] The processor generates signals directing transmission of theapplicable bill presentment information responsive to requests forcurrent billing information, received by the network interface, fromrespective payors. The network interface transmits the applicable billpresentment information to the appropriate payor responsive to theapplicable signal.

[0019] Preferably, the processor generates a notice of availability ofcurrent billing information to each of the payors for whom billinginformation has been received by the system and stored in the memory. Inthis regard, the processor generates a signal directing the transmissionof each notice, responsive to which the network interface transmits arespective notice to the appropriate payor. Each notice may be an e-mailmessage addressed to the network e-mail address, e.g. an Internet e-mailaddress, of the appropriate payor.

[0020] According to other aspects of the invention, the processor mayalso generate a further notice of availability of current billinginformation and a signal directing the transmission of this furthernotice to a payor after some period of time has passed subsequent to theapplicable billing information having been first noticed to or requestedby the payor. For example a further notice may be generated if norequest for bill presentment information is received for some period oftime after a first notice of availability has been transmitted. Anadditional notice may also or alternatively be generated if no notice ofpayment of some or all of the bills represented the applicable portionof the billing information has been received by the system for someperiod of time after bill presentment information has been requested bya payor, transmitted to a payor or viewed by a payor. The networkinterface transmits this further notice to the applicable payorresponsive to the signal.

[0021] According to further aspects of the invention, the processor maycontinuously update the bill presentation information based upon the newbill related information, such as additionally received billinginformation representing new bills to be paid or the payment of billswhich were represented by billing information previously received by theapplicable payor. In this regard, the processor, if desired, cangenerate new bill presentment information corresponding to some or allof the portion of the old billing information which represents bills fora particular payor, e.g. that which represents only those bills whichhave been paid or remain unpaid, and the portion of the new billinginformation which represents bills for the same payor, e.g. newly paidbills or new outstanding bills. If, for example all the billsrepresented by the applicable portion of the old billing informationhave been paid, the new bill presentment information would only includethe applicable portion of the new billing information. This new billinginformation may be associated with the same and/or different billers asthe previously received billing information, but would more typicallyrelate to different billers. The processor also generates a signaldirecting the transmission, via the network interface, of the new billpresentment information to the applicable payor responsive to thepayor's request for the then current billing information.

[0022] In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, anelectronic bill presentment network is provided. The electronic billpresentment network includes a private or public communications network,such as the Internet, interconnecting multiple biller stations, multipleclient stations and a network server.

[0023] The biller stations each transmit the billing informationassociated with a respective one of the different billers to the servervia the network. The network server receives and stores the transmittedbilling information. The received information is stored such that theportion of the billing information representing bills for a particularpayor is associated with that payor. Using a client station a payor cantransmit, via the network, a request for current billing information.The network server receives each payor request and transmits billpresentment information, which corresponds to an appropriate portion ofthe billing information, to the applicable payor client station via thenetwork responsive to the request.

[0024] As discussed above, if desired, the network server can transmit anotice of availability of current billing information to payors via thenetwork. The client stations may transmit, subsequent to thetransmission of a first request for current billing information, one ormore additional request for then current billing information via thenetwork. Hence, applicable current bill presentation information will beprovided on-demand to the payor.

[0025] Beneficially, the network server receives notification of thepayment of bills represented by the respective portion of the billinginformation applicable to each payor. In such a case, the network serveronly transmits or retransmits that part of the applicable billpresentment information which corresponds to the portion of the billinginformation representing the remaining unpaid bills via the networkresponsive to a payor request for information regarding outstandingbills which is received by the network server after receipt of thenotice of payment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0026]FIG. 1 depicts a bill processing network in accordance with thepresent invention.

[0027]FIG. 2 depicts a functional block diagram of the bill processingnetwork of FIG. 1.

[0028]FIG. 2A depicts a simplified block diagram of the CF station ofFIG. 1.

[0029]FIG. 2B depicts a simplified block diagram of an exemplary payorstation of FIG. 1.

[0030]FIG. 3 depicts various types of payor stations which can beutilized in the bill processing network of FIG. 1.

[0031]FIG. 4 depicts a payor enrollment screen in accordance with thepresent invention.

[0032]FIG. 5 depicts another payor enrollment screen in accordance withthe present invention.

[0033]FIG. 6 depicts a still further payor enrollment screen inaccordance with the present invention.

[0034]FIG. 7 depicts a simplified flow diagram of the operation of thebill processing network depicted in FIG. 1.

[0035]FIG. 8 depicts a payor welcome screen in accordance with thepresent invention.

[0036]FIG. 9A depicts bill presentment information which includes a newbill summary screen in accordance with the present invention.

[0037]FIG. 9B depicts bill presentment information which includes anunpaid bill summary screen in accordance with the present invention.

[0038]FIG. 9C depicts bill presentment information which includesanother type of bill summary in accordance with the present invention.

[0039]FIG. 10A depicts a pre-bill payment authorization screen inaccordance with the present invention.

[0040]FIG. 10B depicts another pre-bill payment authorization screen inaccordance with the present invention.

[0041]FIG. 11 depicts bill presentment information which includes adetailed bill screen in accordance with the present invention.

[0042]FIG. 12A depicts a bill payment authorization screen in accordancewith the present invention.

[0043]FIG. 12B depicts a different bill payment authorization screen inaccordance with the present invention.

[0044]FIG. 12C details certain aspects of the bill payment authorizationscreen of FIG. 12B.

[0045]FIG. 13 depicts bill presentment information which includes alisting of information related to bills which have been authorized forpayment in accordance with the present invention.

[0046]FIG. 14 depicts a biller category screen in accordance with thepresent invention.

[0047]FIG. 15 depicts a screen having bill presentment and paymentauthorization information in accordance with the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0048]FIG. 1 depicts a communications network 100, which can be aprivate or public network such as a wide area network (WAN), theInternet or some other type of communication network for linking billerstations 110 a-110 d, payor stations 120 a-120 d, financial institution(FI) stations 130 a-130 c and a centralized CF station 140. The billerstations 110 a-110 d may represent individual merchants, utilitycompanies, service providers, bank credit card companies, or otherindividuals or entities to whom a payment is owed. Payor stations 120a-120 d may represent individuals or entities which have purchased orordered goods or services or otherwise have an outstanding debt to thebillers represented by stations 110 a-110 d. The payors represented bystations 120 a-120 d maintain accounts with one or more of the financialinstitutions, which may, for example, be banks, credit unions or othertype of financial institution or any combination. Each of the billersrepresented by stations 110 a-110 d may also maintain one or moredeposit accounts in the financial institutions represented by stations130 a-130 c. The CF station 140 serves as a centralized bill processingsystem as will be described in detail below.

[0049]FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the bill processingnetwork depicted in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the CF station 140 isinterconnected, via the network 100, with each of the biller stations110 a-110 d and each of the payor stations 120 a-120 d. Accordingly,each of the billers represented by stations 110 a-110 d can transmit,via the network 100, billing information to each of the payorsrepresented by stations 120 a-120 d as appropriate through the CFstation 140.

[0050] As shown in FIG. 2A, the CF station 140 includes a networkinterface (NI) 405 for receiving and transmitting communications via thenetwork 100. The station 140 also includes a processor 410 and a memory420. The station 140 could, for example, be a high powered work station,minicomputer, mainframe computer or other type of network computingdevice which serves as a network server, or any combination of suchdevices. The memory 420 stores, in area 420 a, biller data such as thebiller's name, remittance center address, deposit account number withone of the financial institutions represented by stations 130 a-130 c,account numbers for respective payors represented by stations 120 a-120d, network address, e.g. an e-mail address, and other biller relatedinformation of each of the billers represented by stations 110 a-110 d.Payor data is stored in memory area 420 b and will typically includesuch information as the payor's name and address, account numbers withrespective billers represented by stations 110 a-110 d, checking accountnumber with one of the financial institutions 130 a-130 c, networkaddress, e.g. an e-mail address, and other payor related information.

[0051] The billing information received by the CF station 140 from therespective billers represented by stations 110 a-110 d via the network100 is normalized by the server processor 410 in accordance with thebill presentment software stored in memory area 420 c. Differentportions of the normalized bill information are stored in memory area420 d in association with a respective identifier of the appropriatepayor represented by station 120 a-120 d to whom that portion of thebilling information relates.

[0052] The bill presentment software also generates a summary of thereceived billing information from each of the billers represented bystations 110 a-110 d for each of the payors represented by stations 120a-120 d and stores the summary information with an identifier of theapplicable payor in the memory area 420 e. Bill templates are stored inmemory area 420 f. The bill templates can be merged with the normalizedbilling information to electronically present the billing information tothe appropriate payor represented by station 120 a-120 d insubstantially the same form, including detailed billing information,biller logo, color and terms and conditions, as has historically beenprovided to the payor in hardcopy. Network software is stored in area420 g of the memory 420.

[0053] Once the billing information has been processed by the processor410 so as to be available for access by the appropriate payors, theprocessor 410 in accordance with the bill presentment softwareinstructions stored in memory area 420 c, generates an e-mail or othermessage to notify the applicable payors represented by station 120 a-120d of the availability of bill presentment information. The processor 410also generates a signal directing the transmission of the message, viathe network interface 405, to the applicable payors using a networkaddress, e.g. an e-mail address, stored as part of the payor data inarea 420 a of the memory 420.

[0054] As shown in FIG. 3, the payor 120 a-120 d may be represented by apersonal computer (PC) 310 interconnected to the network 100 by a modem,a television (TV) 320 interconnected to the network 100 via a set topbox, a touch tone telephone 330, a mobile phone 340, a notebook computer350 interconnected to the network 100 by a modem, or some other networkdevice. It will recognized by those skilled in the art that the networkdevice could be of virtually any type capable of receiving a voice,graphic, or textual message. If different types of payor station devicesare utilized, the payor data will include an identification of theparticular type of network device being utilized by the payor. If audiodevices such as telephone 330 or mobile phone 340 are utilized, theprocessor 410 is configured to include a voice synthesizer to generatevoice messages and a voice signal converter to transform received audiomessages into digital signals of processing at station 140 in accordancewith the bill presentment software instruction stored in memory area 420c.

[0055] Referring now to FIG. 2B, an exemplary payor station 120 capableof receiving e-mail messages will now be described. Station 120 includesa payor processor 450 which is interconnected to a memory device 470.The memory stores the payor client software in area 470 a and thenetwork software in area 470 b of the memory 470. It will however berecognized that, if desired, the memory 470 could be eliminated in andthat storage of the payor client software could be implemented on thememory 420 of the CF station 140. A network interface (NI) 455interconnects the payor station 120 to the network 100. Messagestransmitted by the CF station 140 to the payor station 120 are receivedvia the network interface 455 and processed by the processor 450 inaccordance with the network software stored in area 470 b of memory 470.

[0056] In a customary e-mail notification processing sequence, theprocessor 450, in accordance with the network software instructionsstored in memory area 470 b, directs the presentation of an indicator onthe display 460 of the payor station 120 to notify the applicable payorthat an e-mail message has been received. Using the input device 465,which may be a keyboard, mouse or other input device, the applicablepayor can access the e-mail message and request the available billingrelated information from the CF station 140.

[0057] The notification mechanism may alternatively be implementeddirectly in the bill presentment client rather than via e-mail. Those ofordinary skill in the art will recognize that there may be many possibleimplementations of a notification mechanism.

[0058] The payor may request the available billing related informationby, for example, inputting one or more commands on the input device 465.Responsive to these commands, the processor 450 generates and directsthe transmission of the request, via the network interface 455, to theCF station 140. The generated request could, for example, take the formof a reply e-mail message, an instruction to access a web page at the CFstation 140 if the network is the Internet or some other instruction aswill be well understood by those skilled in the art. If desired, thee-mail message could include an icon or other indicator which can beactivated using the input device 465 to automatically link the payorstation 120 to the CF station 140 to access bill related information.

[0059] Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 2A, the processor 410 of the CFstation 140, in response to the request received from the payor station120 a-120 d, directs the transmission of the requested bill presentmentinformation, via the network interface 405, to the applicable payorstation 120 a-120 d. The transmitted bill presentment information mayneed to be generated by the processor 410 responsive to the payorrequest or may be already stored in the memory 420. For example, theprocessor 410 may either retrieve the applicable template(s) andnormalized billing information from memory areas 420 f and 420 d andmerge this information to generate requested detailed bill presentmentinformation. On the other hand, the processor may simply retrieveinformation stored in area 420 e of memory 420 if only bill summaryinformation is requested. It should be noted that by storing unmergedtemplates and normalized data and merging this information onlyresponsive to request for detailed information, the required memory tostore detailed bill presentment information can be significantlyreduced. It should be understood that, in many cases, the payor willrequired only summary bill presentment information, and thus on-lineprocessing to merge the templates and normalized billing informationwill not, in many cases, be required. However, preferably, detailed billpresentment information dynamically generated by merging template andnormalized data may be cached to support re-retrieval requestsresponsively.

[0060] Referring again to FIG. 2B, the payor station 120 a-120 dreceives, via network interface 455 of payor station 120, the billpresentment information transmitted by the CF station 140 over thenetwork 100. The payor processor 450 processes the received informationin accordance with the payor client software stored in memory area 470 aand directs the presentation of the received bill presentmentinformation on the display 460 of the payor station 120.

[0061] As discussed above referring to FIG. 2, the CF station 140 islinked via the network 100 to various financial institution stations 130a-130 c which represent financial institutions with whom checkingaccounts are maintained by one or more of the payors represented bystations 120 a-120 d and/or deposit accounts are maintained by one ofmore of the billers represented by stations 110 a-110 d. A payor, havingreceived bill presentment information, can now request that payment ofone or more bills be made to the appropriate biller(s) represented bystation(s) 110 a-110 d.

[0062] In this regard referring again to FIG. 2B, the payor processor450 generates, in accordance with the client software residing in memoryarea 470 a, a payment instruction and an instruction directing thetransmission of the instruction, via the network interface 455, over thenetwork 100 to the CF station 140. Referring again to FIG. 2A, thepayment instruction is received and processed by the processor 410 of CFstation 140. The processor 410, responsive to the received paymentinstruction and in accordance with the bill payment software stored inmemory area 420 c, directs the payment of the applicable bills either byelectronic funds transfer or by hardcopy check.

[0063] If the payment will be made by electronic funds transfer, the CFprocessor 410 generates an electronic funds transfer instruction toelectronically transfer the appropriate amount from the applicablepayor's checking account maintained at one of the financial institutionsrepresented by stations 130 a-130 c to the appropriate biller's depositaccount maintained at one of the financial institutions represented bystations 130 a-130 c. The processor 410 also generates an instruction totransmit the electronic funds transfer instruction, via the networkinterface 405, over the network 100 to the applicable payor financialinstitution station 130 a-130 c and/or an originating financialinstitution and or originating financial institution to the AutomatedClearing House (ACH) network or similar financial network for fundstransfer.

[0064] The processor 410 also generates, in accordance with the billpayment software instructions stored in memory area 420 c, a messageindicating the amount of payment remitted and the associated payoraccount number, along with an instruction to transmit the message, viathe network interface 405, over the network 100 to the appropriatebiller station 110 a-110 d. This remittance advice information may flowdirectly to the biller station 110 a-110 d or be routed with the paymentthrough the biller's financial institution 130 a-130 c, which woulddeliver the information to the biller station. It should be recognizedthat the biller station to which the payment notice is transmitted maybe different than the biller station from which the billing informationis transmitted.

[0065] If the payment will be made by hardcopy check, the CF processor410 generates an instruction to print a hardcopy check for theappropriate amount against funds in CF station 140's checking account.The applicable payor's checking account maintained at one of thefinancial institutions represented by stations 130 a-130 c is debitedappropriately via ACH (resulting in electronic funds transfer to the CFstation account) or via some form of “good funds” debiting through adirect electronic connection to the financial institution (resulting inelectronic or wire funds transfer to the CF station account). The checkmay be a “single check” remitting only a single payor's payment to aparticular biller, or a “check and list”, combining the remittance frommultiple payors to a particular biller. Alternatively, the CF processormay generate an instruction to print a hardcopy check for theappropriate amount against funds in the applicable payor's checkingaccount maintained at one of the financial institutions represented bystations 130 a-130 c. The processor 410 also generates, in accordancewith the bill payment software instructions stored in memory area 420 c,a message indicating the amount of the payment(s) remitted and theassociated payor account(s). The printed message and check are thenmailed to the applicable biller remittance center. It should berecognized that the location to which the payment notice is sent may bedifferent than the location of the biller station from which the billinginformation is transmitted.

[0066] Referring again to FIG. 2, rather than having all operationsperformed by the CF station 140, certain operations can be performeddirectly by other network stations and certain information can betransmitted directly between the payor stations 120 a-120 d, the billerstations 110 a-110 d and the financial institution stations 130 a-130 c.It may, in some instances, be preferred to have the CF station 140linked to the payor stations 120 a-120 d and biller stations 110 a-110 dvia the financial institution stations 130 a-130 c.

[0067] For example, it may be desirable in some cases for the billerstations 110 a-110 d to communicate some or all bill related informationvia the network 100 directly to the payor stations 120 a-120 d while thenotices of the availability are generated and transmitted by the CFstation 140 directly to the appropriate payor stations. This facilitatesbiller control over bill related information which could be storedexclusively on a memory device at the appropriate biller station. Inother cases, it may be advantageous for all payment instructions to betransmitted directly from the payor stations 120 a-120 d to anappropriate financial institution station 130 a-130 c. In such cases,there could be a preference to have the payment instruction processed bythe CF station 140 or at the financial institution station 130 a-130 c.In still other cases, it may be beneficial for all communications to betransmitted through the financial institution station 130 a-130 c butall processing to be performed by the CF station 140.

[0068] As indicated above, if desired, all or part of the billinginformation may be retained at the biller stations 110 a-110 d. Forexample, it may be desired that detailed bill presentment information beretained at the biller stations 110 a-110 d while summary billpresentment information be stored and provided by the CF station 140.Although billing information may be maintained by the biller stations110 a-110 d, the request for such information may be directed throughthe CF station 140 to the appropriate biller 110 a-110 d in order toprovide a third party audit trail or meet other desired objectives.

[0069] Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 2A, the CF processor 410, inaccordance with the bill presentment software stored in area 420 c ofthe memory 420, preferably tracks and stores information relating torequests or transmissions of bill presentation information to payorsafter the notice of availability. The CF processor 410 also preferablyreceives, stores and tracks a signal from the payor stations 120 a-120 drelating to when a notice of availability bills has been viewed by theapplicable payor. In this way, the processor 410, in accordance with thebill presentation software instructions, may transmit a reminder noticeof the availability of bills, for example, if no request to view thebills has been received for some period of time after the payor hasviewed the notice or if bills represented in previously requested billpresentment remain due and unpaid after some period of time. It may bedesirable to send reminder notifications one or more times at fixedintervals, e.g., weekly, after the initial viewing of the notice ofavailability or the initial request for bill presentment information. Areminder notice could alternatively or additionally be sent just priorto the bill due date as a final reminder to the payor before latepayment or interest charges will accrue.

[0070] Turning now to FIGS. 4-6, the payor enrollment process performedby the CF processor 410, in accordance with the bill presentment andbill payment software instructions stored in memory area 420 c, will bedescribed. Upon request by an existing or potential payor represented bya payor station 120 a-120 d, enrollment interface information iselectronically transmitted via the network 100 from the CF station 140to the applicable station 120 a-120 d. The information is provided so asto be capable of processing by the payor processor 450 and presented inone or more screens on a display 460 of the payor station 120. It willof course be recognized that, although the enrollment process isdescribed with reference to a payor station of the type shown in FIG.2B, the process could be easily implemented with other types of payorstations.

[0071] The initial enrollment screen 550, as shown in FIG. 4, includes alisting in block 560 of billers from whom bills can be receivedelectronically. An indicator 565 indicates those billers whose bills canbe received electronically and who can also be paid electronically aspreviously described. The payor using the input device 465 of the payorstation 120 can select any or all of the billers identified in thelisting in block 560 for electronic bill presentation and/or electronicpayment, if applicable. The account number for the payor's account witheach selected biller is inserted in block 562 using the payor inputdevice 465. The payor is also given the option, in block 570, ofidentifying other billers not included in the listing in block 560.Since all billers from whom electronic bills are available are listed inblock 560, block 570 is reserved for those billers, for example, thepaper boy, babysitter, lawn boy, etc., to whom the payor desires to makepayments electronically through the CF station 140 based upon hardcopybills received directly from the biller.

[0072]FIG. 5 depicts further enrollment screen 500 transmitted by the CFstation 140 to the payor station 120 a-120 d during the enrollmentprocess. This screen is also presentable on the display 460 of the payorstation 120. This screen facilitates the gathering of payor data whichis necessary or desirable for the processing of bills. Using the inputdevice 465 of the payor station 120, the payor enters his/her firstname, middle initial, and last name in block 510 of the screen 500. Thepayor is also requested to enter his/her social security number in block520 and mother's maiden name in block 525. The maiden name of thepayor's mother is requested for subsequent verification purposes. Thepayor's address is also requested to be entered in block 530. In blocks540, both home and office telephone numbers are requested.

[0073] It should be noted that although the payor's account numbers forthose billers selected from the listing in block 560 of FIG. 4 arerequested, in certain implementation it may be preferable to obtain theaccount numbers from the billers as part of the information to beforwarded to the CF station 140 by the applicable billers selected inblock 560 of FIG. 4. By eliminating the need for potential payors toprovide an account number, the enrollment process can be simplifiedsomewhat from the enrollee's prospective. However, it should be notedthat in most cases it will be beneficial to request that the payor enteran account number for each selected biller.

[0074] Turning now to FIG. 6, another screen 600, transmitted from theCF station 140 to the payor station 120 during the enrollment process,depicts an exemplary portion of a conventional personal check in block610. Within this block, the areas of the check having the routing andtransit number (RTN) and the account number are indicated. The RTN andaccount number for the applicable payor's checking account with theapplicable financial institution 130 a-130 c are entered in block 620.Additionally, in block 630, log on information is entered in the form ofa user name and password to complete the enrollment process.

[0075] Upon enrollment, the billers from whom electronic bills have beenrequested and the financial institutions from whom checking accountwithdrawals have been authorized are notified, supplied information isverified and additional information is requested.

[0076]FIG. 7 provides a simplified flow diagram which summarizesoperations of the CF station 140 during bill processing. It should benoted that the operations are described with the CF station 140 servinga centralized role within the bill processing network of FIGS. 1 and 2.Those skilled in the art will understand that the described operationscould be performed as appropriate by stations other than the CF station140 within the network shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, as has been previouslydescribed above.

[0077] As indicated in step 705, the CF station 140 receives billinginformation from the biller stations 110 a-110 d via the network 100.The received billing information is normalized, summarized and stored insteps 710 and 715 at the CF station 140. In step 720, the payor isnotified of the availability of bills by message transmitted from the CFstation 140 to the payor station 120 a-120 d via network 100. In step725, the CF station 140 receives a request for bill presentationinformation from the applicable payor station 120 a-120 d. The billpresentment information is transmitted over the network 100 by the CFstation 140 to the applicable payor station 120 a-120 d in step 730,responsive to the request. The bill presentment information may includeonly a summary of bills or one or more detailed bills formed bytemplating the normalized data before transmission. If desired thetransmitted bill presentment information could include both summary anddetailed bills.

[0078] In step 740, the CF station 140 determines if bill paymentinstructions have been received for those bills represented by thepreviously transmitted bill presentation information. This determinationmay, for example, be made at some predefined period after the receipt ofa request for or transmission of the bill presentation information. Ifnot, the payor is again notified of the bill availability in step 720.

[0079] Optionally, the payor station 120 a-120 d may be configured totransmit a notice to the CF station 140, responsive to the viewing ofthe notice of availability by the applicable payor. In step 735, the CFstation 140 determines if a request to receive bill presentmentinformation has been received for those bills represented by thepreviously transmitted notice of availability. This determination may,for example, be made at some predefined period after the initial viewingof the notice of availability of bill presentation information. If not,the payor is again notified of the bill availability in step 720. If arequest has been received, the process continues at step 730.

[0080] If the determinations in step 740 is positive, in step 755, theCF station 140 determines if, in accordance with the paymentinstruction, the bill is to be paid by electronic funds transfer. Ifyes, CF station 140 transmits, via the network 100, an electronic fundstransfer instruction to the payor's deposit account at one of theapplicable financial institution represented by stations 130 a-130 c instep 760. The CF station 140 also transmits, via network 100, a noticeto the applicable biller station of the payment in step 765. If paymentis to be made by check, the CF station 140 generates a hardcopy checkwith the appropriate account information and directs the mailing of sameto the biller in step 770.

[0081] Referring now to FIGS. 8-15, the payor, at his/her ownprerogative, can access the bill presentment information at the CFstation 140 via the network 100 at any time. For example, this contactmay be initiated by using a payor station 120 a-120 d to contact the CFstation 140 at a Web site on the Internet.

[0082] Upon initiating contact with the CF station 140, the payor iswelcomed, as shown in FIG. 8, by a screen 800 transmitted by the CFstation 140 to the payor station 120 a-120 d for presentment on thepayor station display 460. The screen 800 includes notification of billsin block 810 and of messages in block 820 which have not been previouslytransmitted to the payor. In this particular instance, no new bills ormessages are indicated. If new bills and/or messages are available, thepayor can, using the payor station input device 465, click on indicator810 a to access the new bills and indicator 820 a to access the newmessages.

[0083] From screen 800, the payor can also access either billpresentment information related to previously transmitted billinginformation, including information relating to unpaid bills or paidbills, as well as information relating to previously accessed messagesby clicking on indicator 830 a to receive the unpaid bills, indicator840 a to access bill presentment information related to paid bills, andindicator 850 a to access other messages. The payor can also selectcategories as indicated in block 870 by clicking on indicator 870 a.Responsive to clicking on indicator 870 a, the CF station 140 willtransmit a screen which will be described below and allows the payor tocategorize billers in any desired manner.

[0084] The payor can also contact customer care by inserting a topic ofinterest in block 860 and clicking on the indicator 860 a.Alternatively, block 860 may offer a pulldown list of selectable topics,similar to block 560 in FIG. 4. In such a scenario, the payor wouldselect one of the topics prior to clicking on indicator 860 a. Byclicking on the indicator 860 a, a message is sent from the payorstation 120 a-120 d to the appropriate customer care station. Thecustomer care station may be the CF station 140 for all topics, or couldalternatively be the CF station 140 for certain topics, the appropriatefinancial institution station 130 a-130 c for other topics and/or theappropriate biller station 110 a-110 d for still other topics.

[0085] For example, if the inquiry topic relates to the accounting ofcertain funds transfer from the payor's checking account, the customercare request can be directed to the appropriate financial institutionstation 130 a-130 c. If the indicated topic relates to a particularmerchant billing, the customer care request can be directed to theappropriate merchant station 110 a-110 d. If the inquiry is of a moregeneral nature, the customer care request can be directed to the CFstation 140.

[0086] The customer case messaging option shown in FIG. 8 and describedhere may be beneficially provided on some or all screens presented onthe payor station 120 a-120 d.

[0087] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, if the CFstation 140 serves as a centralized gateway for all communications, allcustomer care requests could be directed to the CF station 140 and itmay be unnecessary for the payor to indicate a topic of interest inblock 860. Likewise, if all pertinent information is available at the CFstation 140 then all customer care inquiries could also be directed toand disposed of by customer care represented by the CF station 140rather than being forwarded on to a financial institution station 130a-130 c or biller station 110 a-110 d for response.

[0088] Referring now to FIG. 9A, as noted above, if new bills areavailable, a summary of these bills can be accessed by clicking onindicator 810 a. Similarly, if new messages are available, thesemessages can be accessed by clicking on indicator 820 a. By clicking onindicator 810 a when new bills are indicated, a screen 900, as shown inFIG. 9A, is transmitted from the CF station 140, via the network 100, tothe payor station 120 a-120 d, processed by payor processor 450 andpresented on the payor display 460. The screen 900 includes billpresentment information 910 which summarizes the new bills which havebeen received since the payor last requested bill presentmentinformation related to unpaid bills. The summary information includesthe biller name, amount of the new bill and the due date for payment ofthe bill.

[0089] As indicated in FIG. 9A, the applicable biller logo may bedisplayed as part of the presentation. The payor is given the option ofclicking on a pay indicator 910 a, a mark indicator 910 b, or a deleteindicator 910 c, associated with each summarized billing. By clicking onthe pay indicator using the payor input device 465, a signal istransmitted to the CF station 140 to direct payment of a particularbilled amount on the due date. By clicking on indicator 910 c, thedisplayed bill presentation information relating to a particular billeris deleted. By clicking on indicator 910 b, the bill summary informationrelating to one or more particular bills is marked and by then clickingon indicator 915 the detailed bill presentment information relating tothese particular bills can be retrieved from the CF station 140. Thepayor also has the option, using the payor input device 465, of clickingon block 920 to access a summary of all unpaid bills from the CF station140. The unpaid bill summary will be substantially in the form of billsummary 910, but will include a summary listing of all unpaid billsrather than just listing new unpaid bills.

[0090]FIG. 9B depicts screen 930 which can be transmitted from the CFstation 140 to present summary bill related information at the payorstation 120 a-12 d in a categorized manner. As shown, by clicking onindicator 935, categories of billers are changed in block 940. Forexample, in screen 930 the category has been set to unpaid bills andaccordingly, a summary of all unpaid bills appears on the payor display460. Other categories could be, for example, utility bills, paid bills,questioned bills, credit card bills or any other category which may bedesirable under the particular circumstances. In screen 930, one or moreof the check blocks 945 can be clicked on along with the pay billindicator 950 to direct a communication from the payor station 120 a-120d to the CF station 140 instructing particular bills which aresummarized in screen 930 should be paid on the due date. Indicator 955allows the check blocks 945 to be reset in the event that a block isinadvertently checked.

[0091]FIG. 9C depicts still another screen 960 which can be transmittedfrom the CF station 140 to the appropriate payor station 120 a-120 d forpresentation on the payor display 460. As shown, the listing contains acurrent bill summary with payee names 965, total bill amounts 970,minimum payment amounts due 975, payment due dates 980 and bill status985. Indicators 990 indicate that a pre-bill payment authorization hasbeen made with respect to particular bills. Such authorizations will bedescribed below. The status may, for example, be indicated as unpaid, asbeing processed if payment has been previously directed by the payor, oras on hold if the bill has been previously questioned by the payor.

[0092] As indicated in block 992, the payor can direct that all billssummarized in the bill summary of FIG. 9C be paid by clicking on theindicator 992 a. Clicking on indicator 992 a will result in the payorprocessor 450 directing a communication to the CF station 140 to pay allof the listed bills by the due date. Alternatively, as indicated inblock 994, the payor can click on the indicator 994 a to direct paymentof the minimum amount due on all listed bills be paid by the payment duedate. To the extent that the payment of bills have been preauthorized bythe payor, clicking on indicator 992 a or 994 a will not affect thepre-authorized payments.

[0093] Block 996 identifies the category of billers with respect to whombill related information is summarized in screen 960. An indicator arrow996 a can be clicked on to scroll through various categories of billersto change the information summarized on screen 960, as has beenpreviously described with reference to FIG. 9B. Additionally, dates canbe inserted in block 998 to limit or extend the amount of bill summaryinformation which is displayed. The arrow indicator 998 a can be used tochange the “TO” date.

[0094] By clicking on one or more indicators 965 a and the retrieveindicator 999, detailed bill presentment information relating toparticular bill summary items can be accessed from the CF station. Byclicking on one or more of the indicators 970 a and the pay indicator997, an instruction to pay the total billed amount associated withparticular bills will be communicated to the CF station 140. By clickingon one or more of the indicators 975 a and the pay indicator 997, aninstruction will issue to the CF station 140 to make payment of theminimum amount due on particular bills.

[0095] Turning now to FIG. 10A, a pre-bill payment authorization screen1000 is shown. The screen is transmitted from the CF station 140 to theappropriate payor station 120 a-120 d for presentation on the payorstation display 460. The pre-bill payment authorization screen 1000allows the payor to identify billers in column 1005 whose bills arepre-authorized by the payor for payment by the CF station 140. Moreparticularly, the payor can designate in column 1010 a fixed paymentamount, a maximum payment amount or an instruction to pay the totalamount due or minimum amount due for any named biller. Further, thepayor can specify, if so desired, in column 1015, a frequency at whichsuch payments are authorized.

[0096] As shown in FIG. 10A, the payor can also authorize payment of thetotal amount billed for all billers identified by an asterisk 415 inFIG. 4 by filling in a period of authorization in block 1020 andclicking on indicator 1020 a. Similarly, if the payor wishes topre-authorize payments of the minimum amount due on all bills, theperiod of authorization can be inserted in block 1025 and indicator 1025a can be clicked on. As indicated by block 1030, an indicator 1030 a canbe clicked on to direct that notification of and bill presentmentinformation associated with bills for which payment is pre-authorizednot be forwarded to the payor. The payor also has the option, asindicated by block 1035, of clicking on indicator 1035 a to receivenotices and presentations of bill presentment information associatedwith the bills which have been pre-authorized for payment by the CFstation 140.

[0097]FIG. 10B depicts an alternative screen 1050 which may be utilizedin setting up pre-bill payment authorization. Screen 1050 is transmittedfrom the CF station 140 to the applicable payor station 120 a-120 d.Billers identified in block 1060 and associated account numbersidentified in block 1065 can be changed by clicking on indicator 1055.Alternatively, the payor can enter a biller name in block 1060 and thepayor's account number with the particular biller payments will appearautomatically in block 1065. By clicking on indicator 1070, the payorcan direct the CF station 140 not to transmit notices and presentationsof bill presentment information relating to the particular billerindicated. By clicking designator 1075, the payor can direct the CFstation 140 to continue to transmit notices and bill presentmentinformation regarding unpaid bills of the identified biller. By clickingon indicator 1080 after entering an amount in block 1085, the payor canpre-authorize the CF station 140 to pay bills of the indicated biller upto the maximum amount indicated without further authorization.

[0098] As indicated above, the payor station 120 a-120 d can also accessthe detailed bill related information stored at the CF station 140. Asshown in FIG. 11, detailed bill presentment information, identified withreferenced numeral 1110, is transmitted as screen 1100 by the CF station140 responsive to a request for such information from the payor station120 a-120 d. By clicking on indicator 1120, the payor station 120 a-120d will issue an instruction directing the payment of the bill throughthe CF station 140. The bill can also be deleted from the screen byclicking on indicator 1125.

[0099] Responsive to clicking on indicator 1120 at payor station 120a-120 d, a screen 1200, as shown in FIG. 12a, is transmitted by the CFstation 140. The screen 1200 includes a check 1205 which can bepresented by the payor processor 450 on the display 460 at the payorstation 120 a-120 d. The check 1205, as shown, resembles a conventionalhardcopy personal check. The name of the applicable biller automaticallyappears in the block 1210. An appropriate payment date automaticallyappears in block 1215. It should be noted that the indicated paymentdate may pre-date the payment due date included on the bill presentmentinformation of FIG. 11 to reflect when the payment must be made toensure timely arrival and avoidance of late charges. The lead time mayvary depending on the remittance method (hardcopy check or various formsof electronic funds transfer). The total bill amount is alsoautomatically indicated in block 1220.

[0100] The payor can modify the date and amount of the payment if sodesired. As an option, the payor can also indicate in block 1225 thatthe amount shown should be paid to the biller more than once, forexample, monthly or semi-annually. This feature will typically be mostuseful where a fixed payment amount is payable on a fixed periodic basisto the applicable biller. The payor then clicks on the pay billindicator 1230 to direct transmission of an instruction from the payorstation 120 a-120 d to the CF station to make payment to the designatedpayee, i.e., biller, in the designated amount on the designated date.

[0101]FIG. 12B depicts an alternative bill payment screen 1250. Screen1250 includes a check 1255 which is similar to check 1205 of FIG. 12A,but which can be used in connection with the payment of individual billsfrom a bill summary screen such as those previously described withreference to FIGS. 9A-9A. More particularly, responsive to the payindicator, in the bill summaries shown in FIGS. 9A-9C, being clicked onat the payor station 120 a-120 d, the CF station 140 transmits screen1250 to the payee station. The check 1255 includes block 1260 in whichan individual biller's name can be inserted by scrolling through billersnames appearing on the bill summary using the arrow indicator 1260 a.The bill due date or a date which allows time for hardcopy mailing of acheck to the biller automatically appears in the date block 1265 for thelisted bill of the selected biller.

[0102] In the screen 1250, the block 1270 must be filled in by the payorto indicate the desired payment amount. Block 1275 can be scrolled byclicking on the arrow indicator 1275 a to select the period of paymentas has been previously discussed with reference to block 1225 in FIG.12A. FIG. 12C further details screen 1250 to show that block 1275 can beexpanded to provide multiple options with respect to the payment periodfor selection by the payor.

[0103] Once the check 1255 has been appropriately filled out the payorcan then click on the pay bill indicator 1280 to transmit an instructionfrom the payor station 120 a-120 d directing the CF station 140 to paythe selected biller in accordance with information contained in thefilled check 1255. If, on the other hand, changes in the checkinformation are required, the payor can click on indicator 1285 to resetcheck 1255 and restart the process of selecting a biller for payment andfilling in the amount of the payment to be made.

[0104] Referring to FIG. 13, a screen 1300, having a payment list 1305including those bills which have been paid or on which instructions forpayment have been received, is generated by the CF station 140.Responsive to a request from the payor, the screen 1300 is transmittedvia the network 100 to the appropriate payor station 120 a-120 d. Thescreen 1300 is presentable on the payor display 460. The screen includesa listing of billers in column 1310 and a listing of the date on whichpayment has or will be made in column 1315. The amount of the authorizedpayment is listed in column 1320 along with the period at which suchpayment is authorized in column 1325. A payment confirmation number isreferenced in column 1330. This number can be used to identify theparticular transmission or payment of interest should the payor wish tomake any inquiries to customer care regarding the payment. In column1335, the status of the payment is indicated. For example, as indicated,the status may be that payment has been processed or may be pendingawaiting a due date of payment. In column 1340, the payor is providedwith various options depending upon the status of the payment. Forexample, where payment is pending, the payment authorization can bestopped or edited. In those cases where payment has been made, the payorcan make inquiries relating to those payments.

[0105]FIG. 14 depicts a screen 1400 which, responsive to a request froma payor, is transmitted by the CF processor 140 to the payor station 120a-120 d. Screen 1400 allows the payor to establish certain categories ofbillers, as has been previously discussed. For example, the biller may,in block 1405, establish categories for utilities, credit cardcompanies, school, tennis related activities and any other categories asmay be desired by an individual payor. By clicking on the resetindicator 1410, the payor can modify the listed categories. The selectedcategories and any changes to the category listings are saved byclicking on indicator 1415.

[0106]FIG. 15 depicts a particularly beneficial screen 1500 for billpresentment and payment. As shown, the CF processor 140 transmits forpresentation on the payor station display 460, a screen having an area1505, which includes biller-specific bill presentment information,including the biller name, biller address and payor account number withthe biller in block 1510. The area 1505 also includes a block 1515having the biller invoice number and invoice date to the extentapplicable. A block 1520 presents information which includes thepurchase dates, product/service descriptions and the associated billedamounts, along with the total amount due and minimum payment due. Ablock 1525 indicates the payment due date.

[0107] In section 1530 of screen 1500, a check 1535 is shown whichincludes information similar to that of check 1205 which is describedabove with reference to FIG. 12A, with the exception that the check 1535includes an invoice number in block 1540 and a click on indicator forapproving the payment in block 1545. As in FIG. 12A, the payment duedate and the total payment amount can be modified. An area 1550 of thescreen 1500, has indicators which can be clicked on to access otherinformation. As shown, indicator 1555 a can be clicked on to accessother terms and conditions as indicated in block 1555, and indicator1560 a can be clicked on to access advertisements which the billerwishes to include with the bill presentment as indicated in block 1560.

[0108] An indicator 1565 a can be clicked on to access customer care asindicated in block 1565. The customer care access can, if desired, besimilar to that described with reference to FIG. 8. Any customer careinquiry will automatically reference the particular account numberreferred to in area 1505 of the screen 1500, and may also reference theinvoice number referred to in area 1505. By clicking on indicator 1570a, the payor can determine if payment has already been made as indicatedby block 1570. If payment has been made, by clicking on indicator 1570 aa canceled check stamp will appear on the check 1535 to indicate thatthe check has been cashed.

[0109] Accordingly, utilizing the screen 1500, a payor can access allinformation on a single screen necessary to review detailed billpresentment information relating to any particular bill, make payment ofthat bill in a desired amount and access other information, such asterms and conditions and advertisements, which would normally beincluded in a hardcopy mailing of bill. The payor can also determinethat payment of the bill has in fact been received by the applicablebiller. Should the biller have questions regarding the bill or payment,by simply clicking on indicator 1565 a, customer care can be accessed.

[0110] It will also be recognized by those skilled in the art that,while the invention has been described above in terms of one or morepreferred embodiments, it is not limited thereto. Various features andaspects of the above described invention may be used individually orjointly. Further, although the invention has been described in thecontext of its implementation in a particular environment and forparticular purposes, those skilled in the art will recognize that itsusefulness is not limited thereto and that the present invention can bebeneficially utilized in any number of environments and implementations.Accordingly, the claims set forth below should be construed in view ofthe full breath and spirit of the invention as disclosed herein.

1. A method of electronically presenting billing information, comprisingthe steps of: receiving billing information associated with a pluralityof different billers, a first portion of the billing informationrepresenting bills for a first payor and a second portion of the billinginformation representing bills for a second payor; receiving a firstrequest from the first payor for current billing informationrepresenting bills for the first payor and a second request from thesecond payor for current billing information representing bills for thesecond payor; and transmitting first bill presentment informationcorresponding to the first portion of the billing information to thefirst payor responsive to the first request and second bill presentmentinformation corresponding to the second portion of the billinginformation to the second payor responsive to the second request.
 2. Amethod according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:transmitting a first notice to the first payor of the availability ofthe first bill presentment information and a second notice to the secondpayor of the availability of the second bill presentment information;wherein the first request is received responsive to the first notice andthe second request is received responsive to the second notice.
 3. Amethod according to claim 2, wherein: the first notice is included in afirst e-mail transmission to the first payor; and the second notice isincluded in a second e-mail transmission to the second payor.
 4. Amethod according to claim 2, wherein: the first e-mail and the seconde-mail are transmitted via the Internet.
 5. A method according to claim1, further comprising the steps of: transmitting a first notice to thefirst payor of the availability of the first bill presentmentinformation, wherein the first request is received subsequent to thetransmission of the first notice; and transmitting, subsequent to thereceipt of the first request, a second notice to the first payor of theavailability of the first bill presentment information if the billsrepresented by the first portion of the billing information remainunpaid for a specified period of time after transmission of the firstbill presentment information to the first payor.
 6. A method accordingto claim 1, wherein the billing information is first billing informationand the plurality of different billers is a plurality of different firstbillers, and further comprising the steps of: receiving, subsequent tothe receipt of the first billing information, second billing informationassociated with a plurality of different second billers, a first portionof the second billing information representing bills for the firstpayor; receiving a third request from the first payor for then currentbilling information; and transmitting third bill presentment informationcorresponding to the first portion of the first billing information andthe first portion of the second billing information to the first payorresponsive to the third request.
 7. A method according to claim 6,wherein a second portion of the second billing information representsbills for the second payor, and further comprising the steps of:receiving notice of payment of the bills represented by the secondportion of the first billing information; receiving, subsequent toreceipt of the notice of payment, a fourth request from the second payorfor then current billing information; and transmitting fourth billpresentment information corresponding to the second portion of thesecond billing information to the second payor, without transmitting thethe second bill presentment information, responsive to the thirdrequest.
 8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the billinginformation is first billing information and the plurality of differentbillers is a plurality of different first billers, and furthercomprising the steps of: receiving, subsequent to the receipt of thefirst billing information, second billing information associated with aplurality of different second billers, a first portion of the secondbilling information representing bills for the first payor; receivingnotice of payment of some of the bills represented by the first portionof the first billing information; receiving, subsequent to receipt ofthe notice of payment, a third request from the first payor for thencurrent billing information; and transmitting the first bill presentmentinformation, excluding that corresponding to the first portion of firstbilling information representing bills for which the notice of paymenthas been received, and third bill presentation information correspondingto the first portion of the second billing information to the firstpayor responsive to the third request.
 9. A method according to claim 1,further comprising: storing the first bill presentment information inassociation with an identifier of the first payor and the second billpresentment information in association with an identifier of the secondpayor; and reading the first bill presentment information from storageresponsive to the first request and the second bill presentmentinformation from storage responsive to the second request; wherein thefirst bill presentment information read from storage is transmitted tothe first payor and the second bill presentment information read fromstorage is transmitted to the second payor.
 10. A method according toclaim 1, wherein: the transmitted first bill presentment informationincludes a listing, displayable as single page, of respective billedamounts owed by the first payor to each of more than one of theplurality of the different billers; and the transmitted second billpresentment information includes a listing, displayable as single page,of respective billed amounts owed by the second payor to each of morethan one of the plurality of the different billers.
 11. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein: the transmitted first bill presentmentinformation includes a listing, displayable as single page, ofrespective billed amounts paid by the first payor to each of more thanone of the plurality of the different billers; and transmitted secondbill presentment information includes a listing, displayable as singlepage, of respective billed amounts paid by the second payor to each ofmore than one of the plurality of the different billers.
 12. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein: the first portion of the billinginformation is associated with only one of the plurality of differentbillers; and the second portion of the billing information is associatedwith only one of the plurality of different billers.
 13. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein: the billing information is detailedbilling information; and the first bill presentation informationincludes a summary of the first portion of the detailed billinginformation associated with at least two of the plurality of differentbillers; and the second bill presentment information includes a summaryof the second portion of the detailed billing information associatedwith at least two of the plurality of different billers.
 14. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the billing information is first billinginformation and the plurality of different billers is a plurality ofdifferent first billers, and further comprising the steps of: receiving,subsequent to the receipt of the first billing information, secondbilling information associated with a plurality of different secondbillers, a first portion of the second billing information representingbills for the first payor; transmitting, prior to the receipt of thesecond billing information, a first notice to the first payor of theavailability of the first bill presentation information; transmitting,subsequent to transmission of the first bill presentment information andthe receipt of the second billing information, a second notice of theavailability of the first bill presentment information and second billpresentment information corresponding to the second billing information;receiving a third request from the first payor for then current billinginformation; and transmitting the first and the second bill presentationinformation to the first payor responsive to the third request.
 15. Anelectronic bill presentment system, comprising: a memory configured tostore billing information associated with a plurality of differentbillers, a first portion of the billing information representing billsfor a first payor and a second portion of the billing informationrepresenting bills for a second payor; a processor configured togenerate first bill presentment information corresponding to the firstportion of the billing information, second bill presentment informationcorresponding to the second portion of the billing information, a firstsignal directing transmission of the first bill presentment informationresponsive to a first request for current billing information, and asecond signal directing transmission of the second bill presentmentinformation responsive to a second request for current billinginformation; and a network interface configured to receive the firstrequest from the first payor and the second request from the secondpayor, and to transmit the first bill presentment information to thefirst payor responsive to the first signal and the second billpresentment information to the second payor responsive to the secondsignal.
 16. A system according to claim 15, wherein: the processor isfurther configured to generate a first notice of availability of currentbilling information, a second notice of availability of current billinginformation, a third signal directing the transmission of the firstnotice of availability and a fourth signal direction the transmission ofthe second notice of availability; and the network interface is furtherconfigured to transmit the first notice to the first payor responsive tothe third signal and the second notice to the second payor responsive tothe fourth signal.
 17. A system according to claim 16, wherein: thethird signal includes a network e-mail address of the first payor andthe fourth signal includes a network e-mail address of the second payor.18. A system according to claim 17, wherein: the network e-mail addressis the Internet e-mail address.
 19. A system according to claim 15,wherein: the processor is further configured to generate a first noticeof availability of current billing information and a third signaldirecting the transmission of the first notice of availability and asecond notice of availability of current billing information and afourth signal directing the transmission of the first notice ofavailability; and the network interface is further configured totransmit the first notice to the first payor responsive to the thirdsignal and the second notice to the first payor responsive to the fourthsignal; and the first request is received subsequent to the transmissionof the first notice and the second notice is transmitted subsequent tothe receipt of the of the first request.
 20. A system according to claim19, wherein: the processor is configured to generate the second noticeand the fourth signal only if the bills represented by the first portionof the billing information remain unpaid for a period of time aftergeneration of the third signal.
 21. A system according to claim 15,wherein: the billing information is first billing information and theplurality of different billers is a plurality of different firstbillers; the processor is further configured to: direct the storage ofthe first billing information and the second billing information in thememory, and generate third bill presentment information corresponding toat least a part of the first portion of the first billing informationand a first portion of second billing information associated with aplurality of different second billers, the first portion of the secondbilling information representing bills for the first payor, and generatea third signal directing the transmission of the third bill presentmentinformation responsive to a third request for then current billinginformation; and the network interface is further configured to: receivethe first billing information, receive the second billing information,receive the third request from the first payor, and transmit the thirdbill presentation information the first payor responsive to the thirdsignal.
 22. A system according to claim 21, wherein: a second portion ofthe second billing information represents bills for the second payor;the processor is further configured to: generate fourth bill presentmentinformation corresponding to the second portion of the second billinginformation and excluding the second bill presentation information, andgenerate a fourth signal directing transmission of the fourth billpresentment information, responsive to a fourth request for then currentbilling information. the network interface is further configured to:receive notice of payment of the bills represented by the second portionof the first billing information, receive, subsequent to receipt of thenotice of payment, the fourth request from the second payor, andtransmit the fourth bill presentment information to the second payorwithout transmitting the second bill presentment information, responsiveto the fourth signal.
 23. A system according to claim 15, wherein: thebilling information is first billing information and the plurality ofdifferent billers is a plurality of different first billers, wherein:the processor is further configured to: direct the storage in memory ofthe first billing information and second billing information associatedwith a plurality of different second billers, the first portion of thesecond billing information representing bills for the first payor, andgenerate third bill presentment information corresponding to the firstportion of the first billing information, excluding that representingbills for which notice of payment has been received, and the firstportion of second billing information, and generate a third signaldirecting the transmission of the third bill presentment informationresponsive to a third request for then current billing information; andthe network interface is further configured to: receive, subsequent tothe receipt of the first billing information, the second billinginformation, receive the notice of payment of some of the billsrepresented by the first portion of the first billing information,receive, subsequent to receipt of the notice of payment, the thirdrequest from the first payor, and transmit the third bill presentmentinformation, responsive to the third signal.
 24. A system according toclaim 15, wherein: the processor is further configured to: directstorage of the first bill presentment information in association with anidentifier of the first payor and the second bill presentmentinformation in association with an identifier of the second payor, andread the first bill presentment information from storage responsive tothe first request and the second bill presentment information fromstorage responsive to the second request; the first signal directs thetransmission of the first bill presentment information read from storageto the first payor and the second signal directs the second billpresentment information read from storage is transmitted to the secondpayor.
 25. A system according to claim 15, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: generate the first bill presentment informationto include a listing, displayable as single page, of respective billedamounts owed by the first payor to each of more than one of theplurality of the different billers, and generate the second billpresentment information to include a listing, displayable as singlepage, of respective billed amounts owed by the second payor to each ofmore than one of the plurality of the different billers.
 26. A systemaccording to claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:generate the first bill presentment information to include a listing,displayable as single page, of respective billed amounts paid by thefirst payor to each of more than one of the plurality of the differentbillers; and generate the second bill presentment information to includea listing, displayable as single page, of respective billed amounts paidby the second payor to each of more than one of the plurality of thedifferent billers.
 27. A system according to claim 15, wherein: thefirst portion of the billing information is associated with only one ofthe plurality of different billers; and the second portion of thebilling information is associated with only one of the plurality ofdifferent billers.
 28. A system according to claim 15, wherein: thebilling information is detailed billing information; and the processoris further configured to generate the first bill presentationinformation to include a summary of the first portion of the detailedbilling information associated with at least two of the plurality ofdifferent billers, and the second bill presentment information toinclude a summary of the second portion of the detailed billinginformation associated with at least two of the plurality of differentbillers.
 29. A system according to claim 15, wherein: the billinginformation is first billing information and the plurality of differentbillers is a plurality of different first billers; the processor isfurther configured to: generate third bill presentation informationcorresponding to a first portion of second billing informationassociated with a plurality of different second billers, the firstportion of the second billing information representing bills for thefirst payor, generate, prior to receipt of the second billinginformation, a first notice of the availability of the first billpresentation information and a third signal directing transmission ofthe first notice, generate, subsequent to transmission of the first billpresentment information and the receipt of the second billinginformation, a second notice of the availability of the first billpresentment information and the third bill presentment information and afourth signal directing transmission of the second notice, andgenerating a fifth signal directing the transmission of the first andthird bill presentment information responsive to a third request forcurrent billing information responsive to a third request for thencurrent billing information; the network interface is further configuredto: receive the first billing information, receive the second billinginformation subsequent to receipt of the first billing, transmit, priorto the receipt of the second billing information, the first notice tothe first payor responsive to the third signal, transmit the secondnotice to the first payor responsive to the fourth signal, receive,subsequent to transmission of the second notice, the third request fromthe first payor, and transmit the first and the third bill presentationinformation to the first payor responsive to the fifth signal.
 30. Anelectronic bill presentment network, comprising: a communicationsnetwork; a plurality of biller stations each configured to transmitbilling information associated with a respective one of a plurality ofdifferent billers via the network; a network server configured to (i)receive the transmitted billing information, (ii) store the receivedbilling information such that a first portion of the billing informationrepresenting bills for a first payor is associated with the first payorand a second portion of the billing information representing bills for asecond payor is associated with the second payor; a first client stationconfigured to transmit, via the network, a first payor request forcurrent billing information; a second client station configured totransmit, via the network, a second payor request for current billinginformation; wherein the network server is further configured to receivethe first payor request and to transmit first bill presentmentinformation corresponding to the first portion of the billinginformation via the network responsive to the first request, and toreceive the second payor request and to transmit second bill presentmentinformation and second bill presentment information corresponding to thesecond portion of the billing information via the network responsive tothe second request.
 31. A network according to claim 30, wherein: thenetwork station is further configured to transmit a first notice ofavailability of current billing information to the first payor via thenetwork and a second notice of availability of current billinginformation to the second payor via the network subsequent to receipt ofthe billing information.
 32. A system according to claim 30, wherein:the communications network is the Internet.
 33. A system according toclaim 30, wherein: the first client station is configured to transmit,subsequent to the transmission of the first payor request, a secondpayor request for then current billing information via the network; andthe network server is further configured to receive notification of thepayment of some of the bills represented by the first portion of thebilling information, to receive the second payor request after receiptof the notice of payment, and to transmit the first bill presentmentinformation corresponding to the first portion of the billinginformation representing only the remaining unpaid bills via the networkresponsive to the second payor request.